Total RNA purified with the RNeasy Mini Kit is of high quality and is suitable for many downstream applications. Protocols are also included for cleanup of partially purified RNA, in vitro transcripts, and RNA from enzymatic reactions. Lyticase, zymolase, or glass beads (required for yeast samples) are not provided. Amounts of RNA isolated from samples can vary due to the developmental stage, species, and growth conditions of the sample source. Since the RNeasy procedure enriches for RNA species >200 nt, RNA yield does not include 5S rRNA, tRNAs, or other low-molecular-weight RNAs.

RT-PCR of total RNA isolated with the RNeasy Mini Kit from the indicated numbers of HeLa cells. 10 µl (1/5) of eluate was digested with RNase-free DNase and reverse transcribed with oligo-dT primer. 2.5 µl (1/20) of the cDNA mix was used in 50 µl PCR. A 452 bp fragment of GAPDH was amplified. C-: negative control; C+: positive control; M: 100 bp ladder.